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Yoko Kanno
| birth_place = Sendai, Japan | death_date = | instrument = Keyboard, piano, accordion | genre = Jazz, classical, orchestral, electronic, new age, blues, folk, pop, art rock, ambient, post-rock, bossa nova | occupation = Composer, musician, conductor, producer | years_active = 1986–present | label = Victor Entertainment (flying DOG) | associated_acts = Maaya Sakamoto, Megumi Nakajima, May'n TETSU100%, Seatbelts, Samply Red, ORIGA | website = }} is a Japanese composer, arranger and musician best known for her work on the soundtracks on anime films, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has written scores for Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black, Macross Plus, Turn A Gundam, The Vision of Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, Kids on the Slope and Terror in Resonance, and has worked with the directors Yoshiyuki Tomino, Shinichirō Watanabe and Shōji Kawamori. Kanno has also composed music for pop artists Maaya Sakamoto and Kyōko Koizumi. She is also a keyboardist, and is the frontwoman for the Seatbelts, who perform many of Kanno's compositions and soundtracks. Biography Early Life Yoko Kanno was born March 18, 1963 in Sendai, Japan. Her earliest experiences with music came from attending church with her parents. She studied keyboard from a young age on both the piano in her home and the organ at her kindergarten. In elementary school, she began participating in composition contests, but in high school, Kanno began to take more of an interest in literature than in music. After high school, Kanno attended Waseda University where she majored in literature. In her free time, she would transcribe music for various student groups at Waseda. It was during this time that Kanno, whose parents had only allowed her to listen to classical music, was introduced to rhythm by a friend of hers who played drums in a school band. She spoke of this experience in an interview with Akihiro Tomita: During her time with this band, she began to study the composition and style of popular music. While at Waseda, Koei, a Japanese video game company, asked Kanno to compose the soundtrack to Nobunaga's Ambition. The game turned out to be a hit, and Kanno's music career was launched. Professional life Yoko Kanno's soundtrack themes include "Kiseki no Umi" (Lodoss War), "Voices" (Macross Plus), "Tank!" (Cowboy Bebop), "Yakusoku wa Iranai" (Escaflowne), "Gravity" (Wolf's Rain), "Inner Universe" (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and Stand Alone Complex O.S.T. In regards to making the Stand Alone Complex soundtrack she said: }} Having composed in various genres, including blues, classical, jazz, techno, and J-pop, she was once asked if she favored a particular genre: }} Since she works in the animation industry, she only receives instructions and storyboards from directors which helps her with composing. However, it is uncertain if all of her works are to be included in the finished project. She once said that this is a way she likes to work, for she does not have to deal with rules during composing.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0437819/bio In reference to this, she once stated: She was the lead member of the project band called Seatbelts, which regrouped in the year of 2004 to compose the soundtrack of the PlayStation 2 Cowboy Bebop video game, released in Japan in 2005. She has composed for Koei games released during the late 1980s to early 1990s and for Napple Tale, a Dreamcast game. Due to her close involvement in the Cowboy Bebop anime, the game released by Bandai also features her work. Apart from anime and games, Kanno also composes for live-action films and television commercials. Some popular brands she has composed for are Canon, DoCoMo, Fuji Xerox, Seven-Eleven, Microsoft, Nissan, Toyota, Shiseido, Avon, and MasterCard to name a few. Grand Funk Inc. is her recording studio of choice in producing for these two media. Contributions to films started in the 1990s but only since 2002 has there been a trend towards the medium. Most of the latter were shown in international film festivals. She attended Otakon and Anime Expo in 1999, as well as Anime Expo New York in 2002. In 2010, she made a surprise appearance at Anime Expo. Yoko Kanno performed her solo PianoMe concert at Otakon 2013. On many of Kanno's tracks, a woman named "Gabriela Robin" was credited as a lyricist and vocalist, but whenever these songs were performed in concert, either Maaya Sakamoto or Origa would perform them instead. In a 2009 written interview, Robin proclaimed that she would perform for the first time live at Kanno's 2009 Tanabata Sonic concert, but at the end of the concert, which featured Kanno directing the Warsaw Philharmonic, Kanno turned to the audience and sang "Moon", a song previously attributed to Robin from the Turn A Gundam soundtrack, revealing that "Gabriela Robin" was simply a pseudonym Kanno used to write songs mixing English and Japanese freely. In a later interview, Kanno said she had picked the name because the first orchestral recording she had heard was the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and at the time Yitzhak Rabin served as Israel's Prime Minister. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/1998-10-07/new-yoko-kanno-releases-announced Personal life In addition to Japanese, she speaks a little English and some French, but claims that her English is "poor" and she needs translation help to converse in French. In regards to spirituality and religion, she said: }} Besides music, Kanno also enjoys photography and writing. She has written a number of journals for Newtype magazine of which photos for illustrations are done by Kanno herself as well, and a selection of photos taken by Kanno of her protégé and former production partner Maaya Sakamoto were featured in the special event program for Sakamoto's 2010 thirtieth birthday concert at Nippon Budokan. In 2011, Kanno expressed her support and wishes to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, composing a song titled "Kimi de Ite, Buji de Ite". Later, she composed NHK's official support song on the occasion of the first anniversary of the earthquake entitled "Hana wa Saku" ("Flowers Will Bloom") featuring lyrics by Sendai film director Shunji Iwai. The song features notable natives from the affected areas of Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate. Discography Solo studio albums Anime works Video games Movie works TV work Works for associated acts Works for pop albums (In Order of Starting Year of Affiliation) Commercial music Companies that have commissioned Kanno for commercial music. * AEON * AGF Maxim * Ajinomoto * Asahi Glass Co. * Avon * Cafe Noevir * Citizen Watch Co. * Canon * Cosmo Oil * Daikin * Daio Paper * Daiwa House * FamilyMart * Fancl * Fuji Xerox * Fujitsu * Google * Glico * Gravity * Half Century More * Haus Ten Bausch * Hisamitsu * Hitachi * House * IBM * Japan Medical Association * Japan Railways * Japan Telecom * J-Phone * Kanebo * KDDI * Kirin Beverage * Kincho * Kubota * MasterCard International * Meiji * Microsoft * Mister Donut * Mitsubishi Heavy Industries * Mitsui Home * Morinaga * Nagatanien * National Ionity Nanocare * Nikon * Nintendo * Nissan * NTT DoCoMo * Ono Pharmaceutical * Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. * Pioneer * Platinum Guild International * Pola * Seiko Epson * Sekisui House * Seven Eleven * Sharp * Shimura * Shiseido * Sony * Suntory * Taiyo Life Insurance * Takano Yori Beauty Clinic * Tepco * Tirol Choco * Tokyo Gas * Tokyo Metro * Tombow Pencil * Toyota * Try Group * UFJ Bank * Vodafone * Yukiguni Maitake Hired vocalists * Aceilux * Afra * Aimer * Aki Okui * AKINO * Akino Arai * Anna Tsuchiya * Aoi Teshima * Arnór Dan Arnarson * Artur Stefanowicz * Ben del Maestro * Carla Vallet * Chinatsu Yamamoto * Chiyono Yoshino * Chris Mosdell * Cosmic Voices from Bulgaria * Crystal Kay * Donna Burke * Egil Olsen * Emily Bindiger * Emily Curtis * Etsuko Yakushimaru * Feather and Down * Franco Sansalone * Hajime Chitose * Hanna Berglind * Hassan Bohmide * Heartsdales * Hitomi Mieno * Ilaria Graziano * Jadwiga Rappe' * James Wendt * Joyce * Kaoru Nishino * Kei Kobayashi * Kyoko Endo * Kyoko Katsunuma (singer) * Kyoko Koizumi * Makino Yui * Mari Iijima * Maryanne Murray * May'n * Maaya Sakamoto * Mai Yamane * Masaaki Endoh * Masayoshi Furukawa * Megumi Nakajima * Mem Nahadr * Miki Imai * Motohiro Hata * Origa * Pierre Bensusan * POP ETC * Raiché Coutev Sisters * Raj Ramayya * Reynada Hill * Ryo Nagano * Scott Matthew * Seika Iwashita * Shanti Snyder * Soichiro Otsuka * Steve Conte * Sydney Thiam * Tim Jensen * Tokiko Kato * Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch * WISE * Wuyontana * YOSHIKA * YUKI * Yuho Iwasato * Yuuki Ozaki References External links * Yoko Kanno Network (Japanese fan website) * * Yoko Kanno discography at VGMdb * * Nippop Profile |Yoko Kanno * * Jmusic.fr.tc biography and discography * Yoko Kanno Project * Yoko Kanno at Media Arts Database Category:1963 births Category:20th-century classical composers Category:20th-century conductors (music) Category:20th-century Japanese composers Category:20th-century jazz composers Category:21st-century classical composers Category:21st-century conductors (music) Category:21st-century Japanese composers Category:21st-century jazz composers Category:Anime composers Category:Bebop composers Category:Blues musicians Category:Film score composers Category:Jazz composers Category:Television composers Category:Japanese accordionists Category:Japanese classical composers Category:Japanese classical pianists Category:Japanese electronic musicians Category:Japanese classical composers Category:Japanese female singers Category:Japanese film score composers Category:Japanese jazz composers Category:Japanese jazz pianists Category:Japanese keyboardists Category:Japanese music arrangers Category:Japanese record producers Category:Japanese rock musicians Category:Japanese television composers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Miyagi Prefecture Category:Victor Entertainment artists Category:Video game composers Category:Waseda University alumni